Media Release

05 February 2020

JOHANNESBURG – The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) this week kicks off a series of high-level meetings with several industry bodies in preparation for the new Property Practitioners Act which takes effect this year.

EAAB Chairman Mr. Nkosinathi Biko, CEO Ms. Mamodupi Mohlala and board members on Monday engaged with stakeholders dealing with the managing and letting of property and with those in the vacation and timeshare sector.

The meetings, held at the EAAB offices in Sandton, Johannesburg over three days, are a precursor to a bigger industry workshop to be held at a later stage and is aimed at getting a better understanding of the various sectors that will be regulated by the EAAB once the Property Practitioners Act No 22 of 2019 comes into effect.

The Act broadens the scope of legislation beyond traditional estate agents to cover commercial property brokers, bond originators,  auctioneers, managing and letting agents, business brokers, time shares, property development ( to the extent where thy market properties), trusts, property exhibitions and payment processor platforms.

The engagements will also allow the regulator to discuss its views on the new stakeholders’ future role and responsibility under the auspices of the new Act, signed into law in October last year.

In welcoming the stakeholders during the first meeting, Mr Biko said these engagements would assist the EAAB in bridging the gap between the regulator and the sector and create an enabling environment of engagement.

“Of importance is to ensure that we are ready to fulfill our expanded mandate and assure those organisations coming under our regulatory authority of our commitment and ability to fulfill our mandate and a smooth transition”, said Mr Biko.

He further emphasized the need to govern the property markets in a manner that allows the industry to strive.

Ms. Mohlala said the aim of the workshops was to prepare industry for the various regulatory and statutory changes. “We start off what promises to be an exciting year for South African property practitioners and various stakeholders as we ready ourselves for the date on which the Act will come into effect,” she said.

National Association of Managing Agents (NAMA) Chief Operations Officer Coenie Groenewald said while they welcomed the Act, there are still specific issues that needed further discussion ahead of the regulations being finalised.

Groenewald said NAMA would seek clarity, among other, on who is included/excluded from the prescripts of the Act, the issuance of Fidelity Fund Certificates to those employed by managing agents and the education and training regime in relation to managing and letting agents.

The EAAB, under the new Act, now also has a clear mandate to accelerate transformation of the industry and increase the number of previously disadvantaged estate agents and businesses.  Groenewald welcomed the transformation chapter in the Act saying it “needed to seriously take off in the property sector”.

Details of the broader industry workshop will be communicated to industry in due course.

ENDS/…

For more information contact
Chandre Prince
Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Specialist
Chandre.Prince@eaab.org.za
 

About the EAAB

The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) was established in 1976 in terms of the Estate Agency Affairs Act 112 of 1976 (‘the Act”), with the mandate to regulate and control certain activities of estate agents in the public interest. The EAAB regulates the estate agency profession through ensuring that all persons carrying out the activities of an estate agent as a service to the public are registered with the EAAB. A Fidelity Fund Certificate, which is to be renewed each year and is issued as evidence of such registration and confirmation that such person is legally entitled to carry out the activities of an estate agent. The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB), which has been reporting to the Minister of Trade and industry since 1976, was transferred to the Department of Human Settlements on 17 May 2012 by Proclamation of the President of the Republic of South Africa.    

About the Property Practitioners Act

In October 2019, The Property Practitioners Act of 2019 was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The Act repeals the Estate Agency Affairs Act and is aimed at improving the functioning of the property market, ensuring professional standards which includes regulating the buying, selling and renting of land and buildings and puts in place comprehensive monitoring mechanisms.